World number two Rory McIlroy hammered his tee shot on the 12th an astonishing 410 yards in Austin, Texas, during his opening match of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.The shot came during McIlroy’s match against Danish golfer Soren Kjeldsen, however, it was not enough to stop the 41-year-old Dane pulling off a surprise victory against the Northern Irishman, winning the match 2&1.McIlroy was one down to Kjeldsen as the Northern Irishman approached the 578-yard par-five 12th.The 2015 champion then hammered his drive straight down the fairway, narrowly missing unsuspecting spectators and groundsmen.Kjeldsen landed his drive around 80 yards behind McIlroy and could do nothing as the world number two placed his second shot 30 feet out from the pin, two-putting for a birdie and levelling the contest.McIlroy then took the lead on the 13th with another birdie, but 41-year-old Kjeldsen struck back with four consecutive birdies, winning the match and claiming an impressive scalp.Kjeldsen’s win comes as Japan's Hideto Tanihara beat two-time Open winner Jordan Spieth 4&2 during his opening match against the Texan.As the day drew to a close, McIlroy’s 410-yard drive was beaten by Spaniard Jon Rahm as he hammered his tee shot a huge 416-yard’s in his first round match against American Kevin Chappell, eventually winning the tie 3 and 2.Kjeldsen and Tanihara’s surprise victories come as Australian golfer Jason Day pulled out of the WGC Match Play to be with his seriously ill mother.The 29-year-old Australian said: "My mum has been here for a while, and she has lung cancer. At the start of the year, she was diagnosed with 12 months to live, but the diagnosis is much better being over here.“She's going in for surgery this Friday and it's really hard to even comprehend being on the golf course right now because of what she's gone through.

Of course, Twitter was quick to react to the phenomenal drive.

"I'm glad I brought her over here, and it's been really hard to play golf lately. It's been very, very emotional, as you can tell.”

“I've already gone through it once with my dad so I know how it feels, and it's hard enough to see another one go through it. So as of now I'm going to try to be back there with my mom for surgery and make sure everything goes right with her.”